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[Helge A Bentsen]

Isn't this a typical "it depends"?
I did my sisters wedding a few years ago in a 250 cap room, one EAW NT26 over a Yamaha active 18" a side, plenty of volume for the dj (and the old folks).
In two weeks time I'm doing a birthday party for some friends in the same room, it's 2x KF750 over 2x dual 18" a side....

I always ask people what they expect the system to do in advance for this type of gigs and try to spec accordingly.
If they expect a live band and wish to talk at the same time in the back, I might say "no, thanks" to a gig if it's a uphill struggle to provide that service.

[Mike Caldwell]

As has been mentioned in a few post already, most people will not care about the dance music
as they want to talk and socialize, except maybe the first dance of the evening.
What just about all of the people there will want to hear clearly is the introductions, toast, ect.

Maybe think about putting up some smaller fill speakers 3/4 to 2/3rd towards the back of the room with only the spoken word parts of the evening fed to those.
The system at the dance floor would have both the spoken word and music inputs.

Doing that would help provide the coverage of what just about everyone will want to hear.

[Tim McCulloch]

I suspect there are some "cultural expectations" that Jonathan's clients may have.  What is suitable for an "old people (guests) wedding" may not be enough for younger people or folks coming from traditions with more raucous festivities.

That said, audio is about coverage and intelligibility for the speeches, toasts, and general wedding adulation, and keeping the recreational dance music more localized to permit folks to socialize.

It's not useful to think of the number of attendees (it's not like they each "take" some SPL out of a pool and leave less for others), but in terms of the *areas to be covered* and at what SPL is appropriate for each zone.

[Brian Jojade]

At a wedding, the most common thing I see overlooked is the ability of making clear announcements that can be heard clearly at every seat.

Generally speaking, the dance floor needs to be the power center and guests like to be able to back away from that.  The problem arrises though that if you design your system that way, when announcements need to be made, they too are centered around the dance floor.

With that design, just cranking things up for announcements means blasting out those in front with the hopes that those in back can hear.

I've found fill speakers that are only used for announcements are the easiest solution to the problem.  Now you can speak and are heard in every corner, but the music can stay in the concentrated area where it's wanted.

[Tim McCulloch]

At a wedding, the most common thing I see overlooked is the ability of making clear announcements that can be heard clearly at every seat.

Generally speaking, the dance floor needs to be the power center and guests like to be able to back away from that.  The problem arrises though that if you design your system that way, when announcements need to be made, they too are centered around the dance floor.

With that design, just cranking things up for announcements means blasting out those in front with the hopes that those in back can hear.

I've found fill speakers that are only used for announcements are the easiest solution to the problem.  Now you can speak and are heard in every corner, but the music can stay in the concentrated area where it's wanted.

^^^ This.

Can be as simple as using an AUX mix for the fills, using a matrix mix, or even clever left/right assignments and panning.  But spot on about keeping the "entertainment" in one acoustic place so the rest of the guests who wish to converse can easily do so.

[ProSoundWeb Community]